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23 February, 2010

Flatburgers

There is nothing like a big, juicy burger. I never buy pre-made ground beef patties; I always get freshly-made burger from Caronna's Market (my local butcher shop) which is ground right there in the store - often while I wait. A big hand-formed patty of that beef, grilled under a broiler or, better yet, over hot coals, is truly awesome.

But sometimes, I don't want a big juicy burger. I want a thinner, 1930's-style fried patty. I call 'em flatburgers.

I start out by using a cheap teflon-coated egg ring as a burger form. It's completely useless as an egg ring because it's been made with a deep seam where the egg sticks. But it makes a nearly perfect 1/3-pound ground beef patty just the right size to fit on a standard hamburger bun. I press the meat into the ring on a disposable foam plate and carefully remove the ring.

To make this patty into a flatburger, I press the patty gently with my fingertips, forming it into a thinner quarter-inch-thick patty with a wider diameter. Then I fry it under a cast-iron bacon press to keep it from shrinking as it cooks, and serve it up with ketchup and mustard and a slice of cheese on an oversized sesame-seed sandwich bun. Voilà! A flatburger - remarkably similar to the burgers my great-grandfather used to get at small diners in the late 30s. Despite the thinness of the patty, it's still a 1/3-pound burger, so it's remarkably satisfying

Flatburger or no, it can still be decked out with all the trimmings you desire. Add cheese, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and bacon - especially bacon - and the Flatburger suddenly doesn't seem so flat.

10 comments:

Mmmm burgers. Once I tried to make them really really flat and make double cheeseburgers but they didn't turn out as well as I hoped. The best burger meat I had recently was actually 75% "lean" (haha) from Hannaford. Yeah, a lot of fat in the pan but man what a flavor...

hmm I am stuffed on chocolate chip cookies but for some reason now I want a burger... :D

TomW: Grilling is my first choice for cooking meats, followed by smoking, especially when I make a big juicy hand-formed burger. But still, I sometimes get nostalgic for the thin, fried burgers some joints were still serving as late as the '70s, when I could go into a ratty little gin mill at lunchtime and get a burger and a beer for a couple of bucks.

Stella: Yes, thin patties on a bun with ketchup and mustard (but no cheese or bacon) was how my grandfather remembered them. When I was a kid, we used to go to a hamburger place in East Hartford CT called "Augie & Ray's." They made cheeseburgers with thin flat patties, buns spread with a bit of butter and toasted on the grill, and mild orange cheese. They still hold a place in my heart.

Fred: I'll figure out some way to work the old slogan into the new header. But it was past time for a facelift.

Tree ocean: I love Hannaford's - I wish there were some closer to me. Whenever the family and I head to Vermont, I always bring a cooler because we know we'll be stopping at the Hannaford in Brattleboro on the way home.

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